Friday, May 12, 2017

Is the next big thing local? The unique value of Peerit

SOCIALIZE IT →

We are in an intriguing moment in the
middle of the digital age. Advances in technology allow for people to
share what they are doing from their smartphones with friends all over
the world, but there is a need to improve how people communicate locally
to other peers around them. When we highlight the best features of our
communities, we help empower them and give them notoriety.

The expression “think global, act local”
has gained momentum as a way for individuals to inspire and achieve
wide-reaching change by being aware of concerns at the local level.
Similarly, a “glocalist” is someone actively involved in her community,
with the conviction that achieving change at this level will generate
change on a bigger scale. To achieve change, we need to raise awareness
of what is happening nearby to more than just our friends.

This is the challenge that inspires Peerit (http://peerit.net),
the app that allows users – or peers – to promote activities locally
with like-minded people. Peerit essentially works as a social bulletin
board where users can see what is happening around them and who is
promoting those activities. In a prosperous city like Houston, many
exciting activities happen every day. From concerts to sporting events,
to hanging out in restaurants, coffee shops, bars and clubs for
different purposes, the fourth biggest city in America has a lot to
offer.

While still in its early days, Peerit
has moved from a chat platform to a social sharing engine. This
improvement was prompted by the valuable feedback from early users who
were looking for Peerit’s unique value, compared to other chat
applications like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. While keeping phone
numbers hidden, Peerit is a cross between Tinder and Meetup, with an
expanded reach. Here, users are matched by interest and are provided
with a platform to arrange future meetings, but also to share a coffee
or a drink later in the same day.

After the new update, peers can share
what they are doing, but can also promote their own ideas, work or
events, being matched to people according to those interests. These
matches allow for more awareness of social activities happening in the
community, and users have the possibility of taking it further by
chatting with others who promote events and even voting for those
activities to make them more popular. If the next big thing comes from a
local setting, Peerit wants you to be an active part of the community
where it all started.